South Korea earmarks $26B for 5G initiatives

09 APR 2019

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (pictured) outlined government plans to support the 5G ecosystem by investing more than KRW30 trillion ($26.2 billion) over the next four years, The Korea Herald (KH) reported.

Investments will span a variety of segments, such as autonomous driving, smart cities, digital healthcare and smart factories.

The government, mobile operators and Samsung held an event on 8 April at Olympic Park in Seoul to celebrate the launch of 5G services to consumers last week. During the event, the president said the country should aim establish “the world’s best 5G ecosystem” and garner “15 per cent of the world’s market share by 2026”, KH reported.

He said the government will cut taxes on network construction by up to 3 per cent to support the nationwide rollout of 5G infrastructure.

Market leader SK Telecom said it now has 38,000 5G base stations, while KT claims 30,000 and LG Plus 18,000, with the majority deployed in the country’s six largest cities, including Seoul, Busan and Daegu.

Specific initiatives targeted by the government as part of its push include introducing self-driving shuttles in major cities by 2020; 1,000 5G-powered buses in provincial municipalities in five years; and developing emergency medical treatment services by 2021, KH said.

All-told, the president predicted the global 5G market would be worth KRW1,160 trillion by 2026, around double the size of the world’s semiconductor industry.

Author

Joseph Waring

Joseph Waring joins Mobile World Live as the Asia editor for its new Asia channel. Before joining the GSMA, Joseph was group editor for Telecom Asia for more than ten years. In addition to writing features, news and blogs, he...